Do more young adults today in your area live with their parents than in previous decades? Do more own their own homes? This edition looks at multiple characteristics of the population age 18-34 in 1980, 1990, 2000 and today (using 2013 American Community Survey 5-year data). Zoom in to see tract, county, metro, state and national-level data.

County Business Patterns includes statistics on retail trade in America, including the growing online market. Explore the number of business establishments, employment and average annual payroll for every county in the U.S. for retail as a whole, as well as online retailers, online auctions, and mail order businesses.

Explore a wide range of American Community Survey demographic topics, including median household income, labor force participation and percent of the population 65 and older and explore these statistics for states, counties and census tracts. This edition also includes County Business Patterns statistics at the state and county-levels, including total number of establishments, average employee pay, and information relating to the technology sector.

How have our commutes changed since 1990? This edition looks at the range of commuting measures in 1990, 2000 and 2012 (using the 2012 American Community Survey 2012 5-year estimates). Measures include driving alone, carpooling, taking public transportation, biking, walking, working at home and the percent whose average commute to work takes 60 minutes or more.

Q&As

Which boundaries does Census Explorer use for the maps?

Each decennial census map uses the boundaries that existed in the year the data were collected. So, the map for the 1980 Census uses 1980 boundaries, the 1990 Census uses 1990 boundaries, and so on. The ACS data use the boundaries for the data year featured.

I see some differences in the geographic details between the different maps, beyond boundary changes. Why?

How do you define the “tech” jobs in the People, Education and Income Edition?

In Census Explorer, “tech” refers to industries that participate in the design, manufacture, research, or distribution of computer and other high tech goods according to the North American Industrial Classification System. "Tech" is not an official Census Bureau definition, but is used to represent the 28 selected industries displayed in Census Explorer. This grouping includes employees at tech firms, some of whom are not directly involved in high tech activities, and misses employees in tech jobs at non-tech companies. Some NAICS codes changed between 2000 and 2011; the map accounts for these changes where possible. To read more about the selected classifications used for this map, see the list of codes used [Excel 24kb].

Do you plan to add more topics to Census Explorer?

Yes, depending on resources and interest. Census Explorer uses easy and familiar mapping tools to let anyone zoom in or enter the address for the data they'd like to see. Our goal is to make data accessible to anyone. That's why we've launched tools such as our API and mobile apps.

SAMPLING METHODOLOGY

The data from the 1990 and 2000 Decennial Censuses and the 2008-2012 American Community Survey are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability.

For more information on sampling and estimation methods, confidentiality protection, and sampling and nonsampling errors, please see:

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